The invention disclosed is directed toward an improved exercise board device having particular use for exercising the lower extremities in the course of a rehabilitation program.
Devices for promoting physical fitness and rehabilitation have in recent times taken a variety of sophisticated forms. With the increasing interest in sports medicine and treatment of sport-related injuries, such devices have become widely used for strengthening the body in order to prevent injuries and in rehabilitative programs designed to remedy ailments after injuries occur.
The kinds of apparatus oftentimes used in these programs include resistance-type mechanisms in which the user extends or contracts a particular muscle against increasing mechanical resistance. Conventional weight training is widely used, but many individual weight machines have been replaced by composite exercise stations in the form of large multipurpose mechanical devices. In this type of device a variety of movable bars and levers usually associate with pulleys that are linked to a series of weights, and the weights are constrained to move in a defined path. Adjustment of weight is typically achieved by selectively linking a greater or lesser number of weights in the series.
Certain beneficial exercises for the lower extremities, i.e., the feet, ankles, calves, knees, and upper leg, include: straight pathway dorsiflexion of the toes; heel inversion; heel eversion; heel supination; and, foot rotation. The use of wide elastic bands is particularly well suited for these kinds of exercises. A need has arisen for providing a device which enhances the benefits achieved by use of elastic bands. It is very helpful for the user to be able to quickly change band positions for implementation of different exercises.
Some early techniques using elastic bands involved looping them around table legs, or other supports, and then moving the leg or ankle away from the support to work against tension. A rudimentary board device concept for elastic bands involved a planar seat with interchangeable vertical band supports in the form of socket insertable pegs and a fixed horizontal T-shaped band support. This device is illustrated in a book written by one of the inventors and Dr. Richard H. Dominquez, entitled "TOTAL BODY TRAINING", published in 1982. The board device enabled the user to perform a number of exercises directed to the lower extremities, but it did not permit the horizontal positioning of band supports and further did not provide interchangeable supports usable for both vertical and horizontal positions. Moreover, the device did not envision a slidable bar means having a latching means to permit securement at a desired extended position. Storage chambers for holding extra support members and a chamber for accommodating a slidable bar means interiorly of the device, were not provided. An important element is exercising the lower extremities involves supporting the ankle in a way that allows the heel to be freely movable, rather than making the individual roll on the heels. This previous device did not include an ankle support feature.
It is therefore a goal of the invention to provide an improved lower extremity exercise board device which is capable of supporting elastic bands in numerous orientations for a variety of exercises.
It is a subservient object of the invention to provide an exercise board device which offers the improvement comprising adjustable means for repositioning elastic bands in diverse orientations.
It is an allied goal of the invention to provide the improvement comprising ankle support means for properly positioning the heels during certain exercises.
It is a concomitant goal to provide ankle support means in association with slide-extendable band supports and also in association with interchangeable horizontal and vertical band supports.
It is additionally a goal of the invention to provide an improved exercise board device which is relatively small, compact portable and has interior storage means for band engageable members.
The invention may be summarized as comprising an improved exercise board device of the type having a generally planar bed member forming a body supportable surface, and peg-insertable vertical sockets. The improvement in part comprises at one edge of the bed member an edge support member forming a depressed shoulder, or ledge. Along the shoulder a plurality of receiving sockets are provided for the removable positioning of peg members in an upright manner. Along a vertical edge surface adjacent the shoulder, the improvement further comprises a plurality of horizontal receiving apertures also adapted for the removable positioning of peg members. Peg members may be inserted in selected sequences within the sockets and apertures. The peg members each having a length sufficient for an elastic band to be looped or otherwise engaged therearound when inserted. The user's thighs, calves, ankles, feet, et al., are then placed inside the bands. Motion away from a peg member will provide elastic resistance during exercise. The improvement may further be summarized as providing support means for the bed member which form an open-ended channel. Within the channel a horizontal slidable bar means is movably positioned and may be moved outwardly from an edge of the device to a desired position relative to the bed member. The slidable bar means is provided with upward facing latching means cooperative with opposing latching means associated with the bed member, whereby a selected position of the slidable bar means may be maintained when an upward force component is applied. The slidable bar means includes band-engageagle end portions for attachment to elastic band members in the same general manner as with the peg members.